The relationship of polymorphisms of the CAT and GPX4 genes with the body mass index of metallurgical plant workers

Introduction. Working in the ferrous metallurgy industry is associated with harsh working conditions, which can increase the risk of workers developing chronic diseases, including obesity. One of the mechanisms of action of harmful substances contained in the air of the working area on the body is the increased formation of free radicals, leading to oxidative stress. In this work, we studied the effect of polymorphisms of the CAT (rs1001179 and rs7943316) and GPX4 (rs713041) genes, which encode enzymes of the antioxidant system, on body mass index in employees of the ferrous metallurgy enterprise.

The study aims to assess the genetic risk of obesity among employees of the metallurgical plant.

Materials and methods. The authors have examined male employees of the converter shop (151 people) and administrative and managerial staff (203 people). DNA isolation was performed with a LumiPure kit. Commercial kits and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 3 system were used to determine gene polymorphisms. To analyze the results, we used the STATISTICA software package (Mann–Whitney and Kraskel–Wallis criteria). Codominant and allelic genetic models of inheritance were used.

Results. We found statistically significant differences in the main group. Converter shop workers with a mutant T allele for the rs7943316 polymorphism of the CAT gene had higher BMI values (p=0.024). Similarly, the workers in the main group with the mutant T allele and the mutant homozygous TT genotype of the GPX4 gene had statistically higher BMI values (p=0.01 and p=0.015, respectively).

Limitations. The main occupational hazards have not been identified.

Conclusion. Polymorphisms rs7943316 of the CAT gene and rs713041 of the GPX4 gene reduce antioxidant protection and may be one of the risk factors for obesity in workers of the converter shop of the ferrous metallurgy enterprise.

Ethics. The ethical approval of the study was received from the local Ethics Committee of the Yekaterinburg Medical Scientific Center for Prevention and Health Protection of Industrial Workers of Rospotrebnadzor (Protocol No. 1 dated 02/26/2021). The work was carried out in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association (2013 edition).

Contributions:
Bereza I.A. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing;
Polyanina D.D. — data collection and processing, writing text;
Shaikhova D.R. — research concept and design, data collection and processing;
Kikot A.M. — research concept and design, data collection and processing;
Sutunkova M.P. — research concept and design, editing;
Bokov V.D. — data collection and processing, editing;
All co-authors — approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all parts of the article.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 25.11.2025 / Accepted: 26.12.2025 / Published: 15.02.2026

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